Bartholomew "Burly" Darkdraft
Summary Burly was born to a well known brewing family within Shadowforge, though he never cared much for the dealings of the Dark Iron. In his mind, his clan was always much too serious and dreary. At the age of fifteen, Burly was exiled from his home in Shadowforge City. Burly traveled far and wide, trading his brew and hands for a place to stay. Burly is a kind dwarf, unusually cheerful for a Dark Iron. He enjoys doing random things and adventuring or enjoying good company in a bar. Burly's main goal is to make people happy and safe. Throughout his travels he has defended many strangers from highwaymen, bandits, and thieves all at the risk of his own life. He always leaves a mug of his brew to those he helps, and really anyone else! In recent years, Burly has returned to Khaz Modan and made a home there after stopping by the Steel Pub. Working, now, with Batilidis Ironstout, he helps tend the bar there. His brews have made it onto the menu and he has never been happier. Darkdraft Mineral Brews The Darkdraft Clan created a special brewing process that adds minerals to the brewing process. During fermentation a mineral is added and is then filtered out from the brew before racking or bottling. This special style of Mineral Brews all started with the clans first brewer and founder Dwelvan Darkdraft with the original Dark Draft ale. Depending on the flavor of the mineral, it is paired to a style of alcoholic drink. (See clan: http://the-mead-hall.wikia.com/wiki/Clan_Darkdraft) Burly has now re-established his family's old brewery in Shadowforge City, employed a few workers, and his sister Breja Darkdraft oversees operations. The Brewery can now push out much more of the drinks, and even able to bottle now! Menu History Early years Bartholomew "Burly" Darkdraft was born to the renowned Darkdraft Clan, a family of brewers since before the War of Three Hammers. Bartholomew was always a larger dwarf and was nicknamed Burly because of this. He always spun it to a good quality, however. Burly was always a cheerful young dwarf even in the strict society of Dark Iron culture. This usually drew the ire of his family and most of his peers found him odd and unusual. This made Burly somewhat of an outcast, but it never swayed him and always remained cheerful and upbeat. He enjoyed running off and going on "adventures" through the city or other various activities. Unless he was learning about brewing, his mind was often elsewhere. Exile It was at the age of 15 that a fateful event occurred. Burly's father, Dwelvan the Fourth, told Burly of the sinister nature that the Darkdraft Clan had come to: poisoning their drinks to kill rival family or upstarts for the throne. Burly was expected to continue this, but denied it. It was then that Dwelvan the Fourth exiled his son from the clan and Shadowforge City, never to return. First Brew After leaving Shadowforge City, Burly made his way east out of the Searing Gorge and into the Badlands. He came across a Dark Iron exploration group in Angor Fortress where they were setting up an expedition into Uldaman. Burly stayed for some time, agreeing to brew for the dwarves there. They unearthed a rare mineral called Indurium there, and the young brewmaster was allowed to use some in a batch to create the Indurium Pale Ale! Copper, Bronze, and Wheat. Westfall Brews Slowly the young Dark Iron made his way through the various regions of the southern Eastern Kingdoms until he came to Westfall. It was here he met a friendly wheat farming family by the name of Pridefield. He stayed with the family, offering his services of brewing and helping on the farm in exchange for a place to sleep. Burly and the daughter shared a light romance. Using the wheat of the farm and local copper and tin, Burly made two new additional recipes: Copper Ale and the Bronze Wheat Beer. During one of his trips to Sentinel Hill, Burly stumbled across the famed Grimbooze Thunderbrew and the Bronzebeard opted to teach Burly some techniques with hops. Gold in Stranglethorn Eventually, Burly continued on. His wanderlust growing strong, he continued south to Stranglethorn Vale. Therein he met with the Nesingwary Safari and was allowed to stay with the group in exchange for beer. Burly agreed and while staying with the group learned of goldenbark apples and acquired some gold ore. With these two things he created the recipe for Gold Orechard Cider. Leaving a cask of the cider for the hunters, Burly thanked the group for allowing him to stay and moved on. Burly kept his momentum of moving south and came to Booty Bay. During his time in the Salty Sailor Tavern, Burly decided to join a ship that was headed west across the Great Sea to Ratchet in Kalimdor. A Taste of Variety The Blackwater Raiders ferried Burly across the sea and they landed in Ratchet. While wandering the vast Barrens, Burly stumbled across a keg. It was labeled "Stormstout." Being a Dark Iron, Burly had never heard of such a brew, but decided crack open the keg and sample the contents. It was amazing. Burly would spend the next five years looking for a Stormstout. The Moon in Kalimdor Burly finally made his way through the Barrens and came to the lush Ashenvale. The Night Elves there welcomed the Dark Iron to Astranaar. The Elves' culture was far different than what Burly was accustom to, but through his liveliness and good drink, he opened up the town. Burly was allowed to use some Elunite Ore in making a new drink: the Blue Elune White Ale. The Cerulean Yeast As the Dark Portal reopened, many of the Night Elves were called to action. Burly decided to travel with the Sentinels to the Blasted Lands and see what was going on. An Alliance mage was summoned and opened a portal to the site. Burly remained within Nethergarde while the fighting at the portal occurred. He helped where he could, as he was no fighter. Once the forces began pushing through, Burly opted to join a group of volunteers to go to Honor Hold and help there. After some time at Honor Hold, Burly left and headed into Zangarmarsh. It was here that with the help of the Cenarion Expedition that Burly discovered a yeast from the marsh that made his brews taste amazing as it paired perfectly with the earthen flavors of his brews. Two Heads are Better Than One After Burly acquired the new yeast, he traveled north into the Blade's Edge Mountains with some of the Cenarion Expedition. He branched off from the expedition when he spotted ogres. Ogres had brew, and Burly wanted to try some. Fortunately the ogres didn't squish Burly because he brought beer of his own. Loving it, the ogres let Burly stay and he studied the ogres brewing methods. It was simple, but their brews had a potency like none other. Utilizing some of their technique, Burly's brews became much more potent. The ogres gave Burly some Khorium and Burly used it to make the Khorium Light. Some Make Liquor, Some Make Slammers! As the events in Outland settled, Burly returned home to Azeroth. When he did, however, he learned of the Scourge Invasion and the Alliance and Horde in Northrend. Burly liked to be where the fun was, and made the trip north with his friends in the Nesingwary Safari who had conveniently returned from Outland as well. The voyage crash landed in the Sholazar Basin. Grimbooze Thunderbrew was among the party and made a new drink the Kungaloosh, and while Grimbooze made that Burly came up with a vile concoction: the Saronite Slammer. Made with saronite ore, these slammers acted a lot like absinthe with the potent kick of a Sulfuron Slammer. Among the Stars Once the Spirit of Gnomeregan was fixed and some other flying machines, Burly set off from the camp to Dalaran on one. He had had enough of being stranded in the jungle and decided to return to the city. While in the city, he visited the local vintner and decided to give wine making a try. Using some star rubies, he made his first wine: Star Ruby Red. A Flame in the Wetlands As the events of Northrend settled, Deathwing shortly followed with the Cataclysm. Burly decided to return to Khaz Modan and visited the Wetlands. The brewmaster stayed with Slabchisel's Survey, the Dark Irons now a part of the Alliance with the Council of Three Hammers, there was little issue. The dwarves of the survey happily drank of Burly's brews and offered him some Incendicite. He used this ore to make a whiskey. The Blood of Arathor Burly moved north to the Arathi Highlands and was attacked by kobolds, fortunately a patrol of humans from Refuge Pointe was near and saved Burly. They brought the brewmaster back to Refuge Pointe and he stayed with them and made them beer. The local area was home to bloodstone ore, and Burly used it to make Bloodstone Red Ale. A Wild Adventure Moving on from Refuge Pointe, Burly entered the Hinterlands and traveled to Aerie Peak. He met Thelgen Thunderfeather here and the two quickly became good friends. Both shared the love of adventure and loud rowdy fun. Thelgen taught Burly how to fight like a Wildhammer! They spent much time together and went on a few crazy adventures, messing with trolls, elves, and even had to escape a giant spider. Eventually, Burly decided to leave the Hinterlands, but Thelgen decided to accompany Burly. Gnolls Are Not Your Friends Traveling through the Plaguelands and into the Ghostlands, Burly and Thelgen happened upon an elven maiden in distress! Gnolls were chasing her, so the pair of dwarves sprung into action to save her from a grisly fate. The elf thanked the two and introduced herself as a Lady Veylana Sunstrike. She was a vintner traveling back to Silvermoon from the Sanctum of the Sun. The two dwarves decided to do something about the gnolls, they charged into their camp and gave them a good walloping. Burly found an odd ore that glew the gnolls were carrying. Veylana explained that it was called Underlight. Burly would later make a lager with this ore. Chardonnay and You Traveling with Veylana after saving her, the two were allowed into Silvermoon City where the Lady showed them to her operations in the city. They were allowed to stay for a while, and Burly eagerly learned from the elven vintner while Thelgen flirted with the beautiful elves of Silvermoon. Burly used silver and made a Chardonnay with it. The Wildhammer in Trouble An eerie vision alerted Thelgen that his long exiled mother had resurfaced and was terrorizing a town in the Twilight Highlands. The duo quickly left Silvermoon and headed to the Highlands to deal with this. Thelgen combated his mother and drove the old warlock off. The town thanked the two and offered them a reward. Burly gladly accepted some pyrite and would later use this to make his Pyrium Lager. When the World's On Fire, Make Brew Thelgen received another vision from the elements, this time from Mount Hyjal. The elementals of Ragneros were invading the World Tree. Burly hated Ragneros with every fiber of his being for enslaving his people. Thelgen decided to remain in his home and deal with his mother while Burly set off to Hyjal. Burly assisted the war effort there however he could, boosting morale, moving supplies, cooking, anything. As the elemental invaders were pushed back, Burly learned of obsidium and was able to make his porter out of it. The Surveyors' Syndicate Syndra Shadowcrag, at the time was the Head Archivist of the Surveyors' Syndicate, a group of Dark Iron explorers and archaeologists. She had been assisting in the war effort with the fire elementals. She happened to love Burly's brewing and asked him if he would become the brewmaster of the Syndicate. Burly was ecstatic and accepted immediately. He made a stout from tin and named it the Syndicate Stout. A Pandaventure and the Guo-Lai Keg After a year of being with the Syndicate, the mists around Pandaria parted and Burly traveled with them to the new land. The group traveled all over the continent but it was within the Vale of Eternal Blossoms that something was found for Burly. Within the ruins of Guo-Lai, a mysterious keg was found, Syndra had determined it was simply that and offered it to their brewmaster to use. A week later, Burly had been keeping the contents of his Dark Draft within it and made himself a drink. After he drank, his skin turned to metal and he grew in size and strength! Alarmed he ran out to get Syndra. Amazed by the effects, Syndra studied the keg further. It seemed that some ancient mogu alchemist once made this keg to try and reverse the effects of the curse of flesh. It had been discarded for some reason, perhaps the alchemist never was able to get it to work. However, the residue of dark iron ore in the ale activated the magical keg and enchanted the contents. Better Than Gold... Amber! The Syndicate began studying all the artifacts they had acquired and Burly felt out of place. He decided to go explore more of the continent. In his travels he met with a group of pandaren amber brewers and loved their brews. He utilized their technique with kyparite and made a delicious amber rum. The Darkside of the Vein The Dread Wastes, where the amber brewers were, had been infected with the Sha. It was this same energy that made the trillium ore so unique. Burly sampled both versions of the ore, black and white, and made two new recipes. With the black ore, he made a coffee in the likeness of the Kafa grummles of Kun-Lai. With the white, he made a white wine with as it was serene and peaceful. The Drunken Master While in the Valley of the Four Winds, Burly met an eccentric old pandaren monk, Kanjo Firetea. This pandaren was clearly inebriated in the Lazy Turnip tavern of Halfhill. Burly joined the old pandaren for a drink and quickly found himself drunk as well, but the pandaren was still going! Burly had no place to stay, and Kanjo generously invited Burly to stay with him. As the two woke up the next morning, Kanjo believed there was a reason the two had met and they spoke for some time. Kanjo realized that Burly had a lot of issues that needed to be addressed and offered to teach the dwarf ways to both deal with these issues and learn to draw on positive emotion to impact the world. This method was through the teachings of the monks, though Kanjo had altered them slightly. Thus, Burly learned the Way of the Drunken Ox. Soju Think You Can Brew? Kanjo loved the brew from the Greenstone Brewery, and they would often travel to the Village in the Jade Forest. After some time of drinking the brew, Burly figured he could make it better. Kanjo figured this would make for a funny tale and encouraged Burly to have a friendly brew-off with the Greenstone Brewery. Burly loved the idea and did so. Utilizing a similar technique that the brewers did with their brew, Burly added jade chips to the fermentation process of a soju. Thus the Jade Serpent Soju was born and he in fact beat the brewers of Greenstone Village! The OTHER Kind of Blackrock The Syndicate had concluded their business in Pandaria and with the opening of the Dark Portal to the alternate Draenor, Moira had the intent on sending a group of Dark Irons through to represent her interests on this new world. The Syndicate accompanied those forces and Burly with them. Fortunately the Syndicate branched off from the base in Gorgrond to survey Shadowmoon Valley and avoided death by goren and other earth creatures. During the Syndicate's stay in Draenor, Burly made a lager from the blackrock ore found on that planet. Arcwine? That Gives Me an Idea! As the events of Draenor concluded and the Legion began invading Azeroth, Burly and the Syndicate returned home to Azeroth. After the Broken Shore and the move to the Broken Isles, Burly learned of the Nightborne and their wine. The new ore from the isles, leystone, gave him the idea to make a wine similar to the Nightborne Arcwine and he made the Leystone Rosé A Place to Call Home Burly quickly left the Broken Isles and returned to Dun Morogh. Many dwarves there were raving about a place called the Steel Pub. Burly decided to check out the pub, little did he know that he would find his true home. He has since remained within Dun Morogh and become great friends with the renowned Bathildis Ironstout and helps run the Steel Pub now. After a year of being in Khaz Modan, he has grown considerablly, unlocking his chi, making many new friends, and has even helped Bathildis start a new company in which he is a councilor of. A Fest of Brews! While living in Ironforge, Burly has added many new brews to his list for each of the seasons and their corresponding fests! Come see him each season or at each seasonal fest to try these brews! Full Circle With Burly's success within Ironforge and the Modan, he was able to accrue enough wealth to purchase his family's old brewery within Shadowforge City. The building was decrepit and took a good amount of time to renovate. While Burly focused on this task, his sister Breja filled in for him within Battlestein. Once the Brewery was up and running, Burly returned to Battlestein as the Co-Director of the company and Breja left to manage the brewery. With his brewery in full operation, a menu of over forty drinks unique drinks designed by himself, and now one of the heads of a company; Burly has become everything his parents always wanted, but never believed could.